A story about a hymn

After choir practice, we have a short devotional. Here is one I did that hymn lovers might like:

One of my favorite hymns is “It is well with my soul.” Some hymnals use the first line for a title, which is “When peace like a river”.

The hymn has several tragedies associated with it. Horatio Spafford was a successful and wealthy attorney in Chicago in the late 1800s. A major fire, the Great Chicago Fire, in 1871 destroyed much of his business holdings, but he started working to recover and helped others to recover after the fire.

Later, he and his wife decided to take a vacation in France. He was delayed, so his wife and four daughters left on a luxury French ship, Ville de Harve.

As the ship neared the French coast, it was involved in a collision at sea in icy waters and many drowned, including his four daughters. His wife was found unconscious on a floating piece of debris and survived.

He immediately booked another ship and when near the coast, the captain told him of where he thought the ship sank.

He was greatly disturbed by his losses and prayed for guidance.

He was inspired to write a poem which tells us of the eternal hope for salvation and his love for God in spite of his losses.

After arriving back home, a friend, Phillip Bliss, who was a professional hymn writer, adapted Spafford's poem into a hymn, which is the one we use today. The tune name is Ville de Harve after the ship that sank with their four daughters.

Another tragedy later occurred with this hymn as his friend, Phillip Bliss and his wife were killed in a train wreck in Iowa. This hymn was the last hymn he wrote.

The couple had three more children, but a son died from scarlet fever.

Spafford acknowledges that we all have good times and challenging times in our lives. We should thank God for those blessings and keep our faith during the adversities in our lives that challenge our faith.

The first line in the hymn summarizes Spafford's poem:

“When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,

When sorrows like sea billows roll,

Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say,

It is well, it is well, with my soul.

Spafford became depressed over the complexities of business life and formed a communal Christian group called The American Colony and moved to Jerusalem. They grew their own food, established soup kitchens for the poor and needy and started an orphanage.

After the couple died, a group of Swiss missionaries took over their work.

Today there is a hotel in Jerusalem called the American Colony Hotel and they continue the legacy and still help orphans and have a children's clinic next door.

Let us pray:

Lord, we thank you for the gift of music so that we might raise our voices to your glory. We thank you for the composers of sacred music and for the many hymn writers who have shared their faith with us so that we may be inspired by song and words.

Lord we know that we will face suffering and setbacks in our lives. We may suffer loss of loved ones, poor health, loss of a job or business or even a home that burns to the ground. These sufferings strengthen us. As Paul wrote in Romans 5 2-4, “We rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.”

When we face these adversities and troubled times, give us the strength to endure them. Help us to stay focused on your eternal love and salvation. We pray that we may also say, “It is well, it is well, with my soul.”